County seeks East Devils Lake Road fix

Posted: Thursday, Apr 11th, 2013

Mike Sample holds one of many coho salmon rescued by volunteers in December 2010 when high water left them stranded on East Devils Lake Road. The road, which was built in the 1940s, has been settling for years due to the soft soils it’s built across. The two existing bridge structures are only inches above water at low flows, and at moderate to high flows, water spills over the road causing spawning fish to become stranded on the roadway. (File photo)

It’s a famous picture. Type “fish crossing the road” into Google images, and the first photo that pops up is a salmon crossing East Devils Lake Road in Lincoln City. It’s spawned plenty of jokes, but for north county residents who drive the road on a regular basis, it’s no laughing matter. The flooding across the roadway that persists for several months of the year is at best a nuisance and at worst a safety hazard, forcing periodic closures of the road.